There was a song in the air.
The sand underneath them shifted slightly as Mikel and Tyrese rode forward swiftly, the winds picking up.
Beneath the sounds of the Khadits’ hooves and the subtle thuds of their bags being juggled relentlessly, something – or someone – was singing, a low ceaseless hum that incited unease in Mikel.
“Do you hear that?” he asked, bringing his Khadit to a sudden stop. The humming rose in volume as if pleased its presence had been acknowledged and Mikel paused to hear it better. It wasn’t humming, not really, but rather a high falsetto mixed with unsettling instrumental music. It sounded like something Marco Beltrami would compose.’
“What is it? We’re the only people around for miles,” Tyrese brought his Khadit to a halt, handling the reins expertly with his left hand. He sent Mikel a look of irritation. In the distance, a few birds suddenly squawked, fleeing from one of the large hills that surrounded the road Tyrese and Mikel travelled. The two men barely acknowledged the motion.
Mikel’s brows knitted together as he jumped down from his Khadit, putting a hand to his ear. “Can you not hear it? Someone’s humming.”
Tyrese looked around them, at the narrow empty road and half dead foliage crowned by the distinct lack of living beings before sending Mikel a pointed look. “You must be hallucinating.”
Ignoring the insinuating look, Mikel focused on the elusive sound, taking a tentative step forward. One of the Khadits whined restlessly, a shrill distressed sound, shaking its head as it did so.
Everywhere was silent for a moment after that, and even the humming stopped, as if it had never been there. Mikel stood up straight, and looked around in bewilderment.
“Did you really hear nothing?” he asked an irate Tyrese, who nonetheless looked at him with some measure of patience.
“Is everyone from the Church of Erynla like this? With an inkling of madness in their being?”
Just as the question left Tyrese’s lips, the ground trembled. A small tremor, barely there but both men stiffened, barely daring to breath.
That disquieting humming came again, loud and overbearing, and this time Tyrese heard it, shooting Mikel apprehensive look. Mikel nodded in response, as if to say ‘I told you’.
Suddenly, a face blocked out the sun, and when the two men looked up, a giant milky eye stared back at them, blinking rapidly.
It was quickly followed by an obscenely large, grinning mouth, and a rotund body which began climbing over the hill rapidly. In the middle of its head was a visible indent, as if something had hollowed it out and like a spider, it scuttled over the hills.
Three more followed it, all different sizes and as they came, the humming increased.
Mikel stood stock still, gaping at the revolting beings. Just like the Demon, he recognized the monster from the illustrations in the countless texts he’d studied.
“Goliaths,” he muttered, taking a numb step backwards. “They’re Goliaths…”
“Come on boy!”
Tyrese’s shout and a hard hit to his head broke Mikel out of his shock.
Already, the older man was spurring his Khadit into action and from the shrill it gave, it was ready to flee as well.
Mikel ran back to his Khadit, mounting the restless beast and then they were soaring across the narrow road, as swift as a gale. The ground trembled with each step the Goliaths took, rocking uneasily like the sea in a storm.
YOU ARE READING
No Blessed ✓
Fantasy- Completed - For Mikel Ark, being offered a job by the world's biggest gaming company is a dream come true, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will launch his career as a hotshot programmer. But what Mikel hasn't been told is that his employer's...
